Construction of floors, &amp; c.



No. 7|2,278. Pate nted Oct. 28, I902. F. L. E/LLINGWDUD.

CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORS, 8L0.

(Application filed June 25. 1902.)

(No Model.)

" lm 'h ""m "MININ W W INVENTOR ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS L. ELLINGWOOD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORS, 84G.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 712,278, dated October28, 1902 Application filed June 25,1902, Serial No. 113,103. (Nomodell)To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS L. ELLING- WOOD, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and a resident of New York, county of New York, andState of New York, have invented certaiu new and useful Improvements inthe Construction of Floors and other Parts of Buildings and otherStructures, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the construction of floors,roofs, partitions, decks, or other parts of buildings and similarstructures, the object being to provide a form of construction for theseparts which will be fireproof or will serve as a fire-retardant, will bedust-proof, air-proof, and waterproof, will be economical, saving inspace, and sufliciently stifi and unyielding to prevent warp ing andlessen shrinkage, as well as to attain numerous other incidentaladvantages arising from the combination of a metallic surface with asurface of wood or other fibrous or composition material.

The invention consists, essentially, in the combination of a plate orsheet of metal having ribs, scams, or corrugations with a fioor or othersimilar surface of wood or fibrous or other material, together withmeans for uniting the two things in order'that a stiff metallined flooror other surface-covering may be the result of such union; and theinvention also consists in numerous details in the construction,combination, and arrangement of the various parts, substantially as willbe hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is aperspective view of asection of flooring or other structure made inaccordance with my present improvements. Fig. 2 is a detail edge view ofa part of one of the floor-boards with the ribbed plate arrangedtherewith and shown in section. Fig.'

3 is a transverse section of the floor-piece with the plate-rib thatengages the kerf therein shown in side view. Fig. 4 represents a view ofa floor-piece and ribbed plate engaging it, together with a section ofone form of tool employed for cutting and bending sections of theplate-ribs to cause a tight connection to be made between said ribs andthe floor-pieces. Fig. 5 is a similar view and shows the position of thetool at the completion of the cutting operation, whereas in Fig.

4 the tool is indicated in the position itoccupies immediately prior tothe commencement of the cutting operation. Fig. 6 is a perspective viewof the operative end of the tool.

Similar nu merals of reference designate corresponding parts throughoutthe different figures of the drawings.

1 denotes a floor boardor piece of any suitable, well-known, andordinary form and having along one longitudinal edge a tongue 8 andalong the other longitudinal edge a groove 2, the tongue of one'boardbeing adapted to take into the groove of the adjacent board, and therebyeffect a tongue-and-groove connection between adjacent boards after themanner of the common construction of flooring, sheathing, woodenpartitions, and the like. The floor-piece l is shown here simply by wayof example as one of many kinds that might be used in carrying myinvention into practical effect. Said piece 1 may be a floorboard or itmay have any other purpose or function in the construction of buildingsand other structures, and it may be of wood or any other suitablematerial and may vary in shape, style, and purpose within as Wideliniits as may be desired.

4 indicates a plate or sheet of metal or other suitable similar stiffmaterial having any desired size and shape. It is provided with aseries'of ribs, scams, or corrugations 5, struck up therefi'om orstamped or otherwise fashiouedin any desired manner, said ribs beingpreferably parallelto each other, although I reserve the liberty oflocating them in any other position relatively to each other. The plate4 may be large or small, as preferred. In the ordinary construction of afloor said plate may be of considerable size and may be united at theedges with adjacent similar plates. The ribs, seams, or corrugations mayvary widely in form, being not necessarily flat and thin, as indicatedin the drawings; but they may have any fitting breadth or contour.

When the metal plates and the wooden pieces are joined together in thelaying of a door or in'the construction of a partition or Wainscoting orother part of a building, the metallic ribs 5 will be caused to entertransverse slots, cuts, or saw-kerfs 6, made in the wooden piece 1; or,to state it in another way,

the metallic plates having first been rigidly supported on the beams orother parts of the building construction and the floor-pieces 1 havingbeen provided with the transverse cuts 6, substantially equal in size tothe ribs 5 and extending only part way through the width of piece 1, thepieces can then be fitted down over the ribs 5, the tongues 3 being atthe same time carried into engagement with the grooves 2 in the ordinarymanner. After the floor-pieces have thus been laid upon the ribbedmetallic platesthe next thing necessary is to firmly unite the two, andthis I accomplish without the use of nails or screws or other similardevices by merely bending down on or in the boards a short segment ofeach rib at the point where it passes through the longitudinal groove 2or causing lugs or projections to be formed on the ribs that will have alocking efi ect on the surface covering. In Figs. 3 the rib 5 is shownin section projecting partially across the groove 2, and in Fig. 2 it isshown in the saw-kerf 6 and also in the place where it crosses thegroove 2, but before its cut-out part has been clenched in said groove.Now in order to turn down the edge or a portion of the edge of the riblaterally within groove 2 and seat it with a clenching or grippingeffect upon the side of said groove 2, I preferably employ some sort ofa tool, an eX- ample of which is indicated at 8 in Figs. 4, 5, and 6.Tool 8 is adapted to be acted upon bya mallet or hammer, and the impactof the blow upon the head of the tool is intended to make the propercuts and the lateral transverse overturn ofa section of the rib. Theoperative end of the tool 8 accordingly has two cutting edges, one beingan outer lip 10 and the other the inner cutting edge 11, the connectionbetween the two cutting edges 10 and 11 being preferably curved, asshown. Adjacent to the inner cutting edge 11 is aslot 13,between twoflanges or guides 9 9, said slot 13 being adapted to receive the rib 5therein when the tool is in working position, whereby the tool iscontrolled,directed,and guided in doing its Work. In Fig. 4 the tool isshown when ready to be struck by the mallet, and it will be noted thathere it is in an inclined position and that the cutting edges 10 and 11both rest on the edge of the rib 5, while the guides 9 9 embrace the ribwhile the latter is in the slot 13. The efiect now of giving quite ahard blow upon the head of the tool 8 will be to cause the cutting edges10 and 11 to cut a certain distance into the ribs 5 on inclined lines,as shown in Fig. 5, and simultaneously with this cutting to lay over thesection 7, which is between the cuts in the rib laterally upon theproximate surface of groove 2, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, tightlybinding this section 7 upon the wood, and in fact driving it down, or sofirmly seating it horizontally therein that it will afiord noappreciable obstruction to the entrance into groove 2 of the tongue 3 ofthe next floorboard to be laid. One effect of the action of cutting edge10 is to leave a sharp projection 12 within the groove 2. Thisprojection will enter the tongue 3 of the next floor-board when thelatter is laid in place, and thus assist in making a tighter joinder ofthe boards; but it will be understood that the tool Sis simply aspecimen tool for the purpose. Other tools of various forms may beutilized, if preferred. Of course with different tools the out in therib and themanner of bending over the cut-out section will be changedand varied.

I desire to claim, broadly, the feature of the bent projections on theribs, whatever may be the size, form, or shape of said projections,however they may be made, the functions of the projections being toengage and tightly connect the surface covering with the ribbed plate.As the tools for making them may vary widely so the projections may havea great diversity,and they may either be formed at the time the ribs arefirst shaped or afterward. Also the surface covering may vary widely, asabove indicated. I am not confined to wooden or other boards or pieces;but the invention is broad enough to embrace compositions of materialthat may be placed in a plastic form on the ribbed plate, its ribshaving been previously cut or notched to provide the lockingprojections, which composition is allowed to harden, and thus a surfacecomposition covering be firmly united to the plate.

Many changes besides what I have spoken of in the embodiment of thisinvention may be made without departing from the scope and intentthereof, and I reserve the liberty of varying the same in many ways,adapting it for use in any location where it will serve the purpose andrearranging and changing the precise details to suit the exigencies ofdifferent cases.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In the construction of fioors and other parts of buildings and otherstructures, the combination with a ribbed plate, of a surface covering,and means on the ribs of the plate for firmly uniting said coveringthereto.

2. In the construction of floors and other parts of buildings and otherstructures, the combination with a rib-provided plate, of a surfacecovering transversely grooved to receive the ribs, and means consistingof laterally-bent portions of the ribs for firmly uniting the saidcovering to the plate.

3. In the construction of floors and the like for buildings and otherstructures, the combination with a rib-provided plate, of strips offlooring tongue-and-grooved together and provided with transverse cutsto receive the said ribs, and means consisting of laterallybent portionsof the ribs which are seated firmly within the grooves of theflooring-strips for uniting the latter to the plate.

4. In the construction of floors and the like for buildings and otherstructures, the combination with a plate provided with ribs havingportions thereof cut out and laterally bent to engage the floor-boards,of said floorboards tongue-and-grooved together and provided withtransverse cuts to receive the ribs, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a plate having parallel ribs, seams orcorrugations, of a surface covering having cross-cut grooves engagingthe ribs, said ribs having sections cut and bent laterally to a seatwithin grooves of the surface covering.

6. The combination with a plate having parallel ribs, of boards orstrips having transverse grooves to receive the ribs, said ribs havinginclined cuts therein to provide a turneddown section for gripping andclenching the pieces in order to make a tight union between the latterand the plate. I

7. The combination with a plate having ribs,

sections of which are cut out and laterally

